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In mid-February, Horsham 1 played away against Hastings 2 in the Mid-Sussex League. Horsham 1 were not able to field quite their strongest team, while Hastings 2 were able to put out a strong line up, so a tough match was in prospect.

Early on, Dix got into trouble against Bernard Cafferty and ended up in what seemed like a lost endgame, but somehow managed to hold it.

Phil obtained a typically complex position against Tobias Stock, but the game fizzled out into a draw.

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Congratulations to Peter Harbott, who won the longplay KO plate last Tuesday by defeating Peter Helliwell in the final. The main KO draw is also nearly sorted with one finalist determined and the other due to be decided soon. There are still plenty of games in the all-play-alls to keep you amused until the summer!

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Back in February, Horsham 1 were up against Worthing 2 at home. The match ended in a one-sided 4.5-0.5 victory for Horsham 1.

Only Chris Jones managed a draw for Worthing 2, against Gavin Lock in a complicated game. James Mansson had a big slice of luck, where a mistake he made in a strong position went unnoticed by his demoralised opponent, who promptly resigned on the following move. Otherwise, the games went very much in Hosham's favour, as reflected by the final score.

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Horsham 2 rounded off a highly satisfactory season back in division 1 with a 3-2 win against Brighton 2, thereby finishing with 4.5 match points out of 10 and 23.5 game points, not far off 50% on both measures.

H2 currently stands 5th out of 11, above all other second teams and three first teams (Eastbourne, Lewes and Haywards Heath). All of those teams below us have one or two matches still to play and it remains mathematically possible for us to slip to 7th but the position will be a lot clearer after the current flurry of activity.

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Modestly out graded, Horsham 2 secured a good fighting draw against Eastbourne 1 though not without a huge slice of luck in one of the games.

With my own issues (see later) I observed little of Phil’s game though was aware he faced the Sicilian with an inevitably sharp position arising. I understand he then initiated some exchanges in the wrong move order with a terminal result.

Next to finish was Peter’s which looked a fairly solid game with a nice tactic ensuring a draw by perpetual.

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Whilst facing a considerably changed line-up, Horsham 2 beat Hastings 2 by 4-1 and hence gained an element of revenge for Horsham 1’s recent slip up against the same team.

Dix’s game was a dreary London system (his words, not mine!) defended with a king side fianchetto. Queens were soon exchanged on d2. White pressed but was rebuffed with aggressive tactics involving the misplaced bishop on f4 and skewers on the rook on d2. The position levelled out and rather than play a blitz finish both players opted for a draw.

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Horsham 2 lost out last night to Worthing 1 whose top two players were both graded above 200. With one game still to be decided (at best a draw for us) the score stands at 1.5-2.5.

Anthony’s Philidor on board 1 was subjected to a fierce kingside assault which seemed to have been largely weathered. An excursion of his queen, however, seeking activity on the other side of the board (when, as he subsequently put it, she would have been far better off hanging around nearer the centre) proved his undoing which ultimately came through the queenside.